Alex McLeish has stressed his desire to be at Birmingham "for the long haul" but called for patience and a sense of perspective in rebuilding the club during the Carson Yeung era.

McLeish has just celebrated two years in charge of Blues and knows expectation levels are rising after their current run of 11 points from five games lifted them into 11th spot in the Barclays Premier League.

New owner Yeung has already promised to splash about between £20-£40 million on new players during the January transfer window.

But McLeish is aware of the need to make gradual rather than spectacular progress in establishing City as a top-flight club after years of yo-yoing between the Premier League and the Championship.

McLeish, whose side overcame Wolves 1-0 yesterday, said: "It was another terrific performance at Molineux and every time you do well, expectation levels grow and that is something we have to get used to.

"With every good result and performance, expectation levels rise and we have done our confidence and belief no harm at all with the way we have performed in the last few games.

"The players have set standards the last few games and I am going to be demanding that all the time from them.

"There is a long way to go, we are not shouting from the roof tops, we've done nothing yet. Some of the players that are in the team are new to the Premier League and are still developing in the Premier League

"But I'm sitting in the dug-out now knowing I've got players I can trust."

McLeish added: "Are the new owners looking for gradual progress? I hope that is the view of the owners because in general terms sometimes people who run football clubs can lose perspective of the whole thing.

"Roy Hodgson recently made a good point when talking about taking Blackburn to Europe and then getting sacked the next season because things went against him, injuries, whatever.

"That is the fickleness of football. Middle of the table wasn't enough for them. It would be good if the people you are employed by can get a better perspective of that side of it.

"I would like to be here for the long haul and build a club but it is not an overnight job - and never is with these things."

McLeish claimed: "The short-term aim is to make sure we are in the Premier League at the end of the season and I know I can help the players here by bringing in two or three decent quality players in January.

"Where would I hope Birmingham are in two years? I would hope we can be still in the league but maybe competing in the middle part of the league.

"But, if we are talking about us getting in Europe, I wouldn't want to be looking too far ahead."

McLeish concedes his hopes of signing quality players in January will be enhanced if Birmingham are in a healthy league position rather than fighting against relegation.

He said: "I'd like to help those players in the dressing room by bringing some more quality into the set-up providing they are the right sort of characters.

"We will try to make ourselves as high up the league as possible to make us look an attractive proposition. That will help in trying to bring in the kind of player you want to attract."